Friday, November 04, 2011

A Video From Taiwan, More McCourt Madness, And Thoughts On The O'Malley Bid

Bud Selig, cutting Frank McCourt's hand off with a kitchen knife? Frank McCourt, getting Jamie to swing and miss at a fastball over the plate? Frank getting clocked by a nightstick? Just too awesome.

In other news, Jamie will get all the homes, and Frank will live ... somewhere. (I hope on the east coast.) Jamie said she will live here forever, but I expect that sentiment will last not very much longer, really.

He is 72 years old. It will take time and energy to rebuild the team, something it is not clear he has.

The end of his last stint as owner didn't go so well. One of the principle knocks against O'Malley ownership — both fils and père — is that they never entirely grokked this newfangled free agency concept. While I'm not sure that would be as much of an issue now as it was then, it seems emblematic of how they did not change with the times. Marvin Miller, the great MLBPA attorney who gave us the free agency that colors the current game, said of Peter, "His father was unusual. And he is not." Returning to "usual" ownership, even if that means a victory lap for a storied franchise's scion, is not what Dodger fans want or need.

The estimated sale price will almost certainly demand O'Malley bring in additional investors, or taking on more debt than is prudent. The former case amplifies unknowns, while the latter increases the likelihood of a replay with bankruptcy. This could turn into a good thing if O'Malley brings in a younger man as his money man; but the name most often floated, Eli Broad, is actually 78, six years older than O'Malley. That, I think, is a non-starter.

I don't know who the team will be sold to, and I don't outright oppose O'Malley (re-)ownership, but I do believe it's more a sentimental choice than a sound one.